Hi,
I am looking for some guidance for studying for my license exams. I have been working in the field for 10 years but have not given my exams yet. Although, I find black spectacle very helpful I think I need more resources since I graduated 10 years ago. Please advise what other study material might be helpful for someone in my shoes.
Welcome to the ARE Community, @zain.rizvi20! We are happy to have you here.
I’m glad to hear that you’ve found the Black Spectacles study materials helpful. Have you attended any of our Virtual Workshops? These 2-hour live sessions give you the opportunity to dive deeper into the most difficult ARE topics, with the support of fellow ARE candidates and a registered architect coach. You can check out upcoming workshop topics/dates on your dashboard.
I highly recommend that you check out the ARE 5.0 Guidelines, particularly the Study Resources section beginning on page 114. ARE content (and therefore, Black Spectacles material) is derived directly from these resources. In the resource charts broken down by division, you’ll want to pay close attention to the Relevance (indicating primary/supplemental) and Overlap with Other Divisions columns, as this will be helpful in determining how to prioritize the resources.
You have a tremendous amount of experience in the field, so don’t let that be overlooked during this study journey! Build upon what you already know, while balancing it with an objective perspective for NCARB purposes.
I hope this helps. Good luck!
Kiara Galicinao, AIA, NCARB
Black Spectacles